How I Made This Shot

People often ask me “how did you make that shot?” Today I’ll tell you how…

Speedotron’s Two-Light Travel System kitis supplied with an 800 Watt second power pack and two M11 flash heads with seven-inch, 105 degree reflectors, one 48-inch black-backed silver umbrella, a 54-inch silver umbrella with removable black cover, two 7.5-foot lightstands and a soft carrying case.

Weighing in at nearly 40 pounds, the kit packs easily into the trunk of a car or back of a small SUV—like my old Range Rover—while offering enough power and control options to handle a variety of assignments

In my crowded 11×15-foot home studio, it took me about 45 minutes to set up all of the kit’s components including installing flash tubes and modeling lights in both heads, attaching reflectors, popping and mounting both umbrellas, and making a few test shots.

For this session with model Misa Lynn I used a single M11 head with 48-inch silver umbrella at camera right and 32-inch round reflector at camera left. Ms. Lynn was wearing a black dress and was photographed against a grey muslin background (that later on was one of the victims of my basement flooding.) It was Shot using a Canon EOS 5D Mark I and EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS lens (at 105mm) with an exposure of 1/1245 sec at f/14 and ISO 100.

For years people asked if they could shoot with me. One-on-One Workshops are held Monday through Saturdays from January 7 through May 24, 2018 in my home studio near Parker, CO. The 2.5 hour workshop includes a introduction to basic lighting techniques and moves into demonstrations on how to use inexpensive studio lights to create portraits in studio or on location.

Bring your camera—SLR or mirrorless—but this is not a “how to use your camera” workshop. You will get to shoot all of the lighting setups demonstrated and between set-ups there will be critiques of the photographs you make. The workshop fee is $250 or $225 with a model release. Click the Contact button and ask about times/dates for these workshops.